Festival Mode & Design takes over downtown Montreal

Don’t worry, you haven’t suddenly shrunk – you’re just surrounded by models! The downtown core around McGill College is transforming into a great big outdoor runway for the four-day celebration of all things beautiful, the Festival Mode & Design…

After an amazing edition that provided thrills and spills for 550,000 stylish visitors, this 13th edition of the Festival Mode & Design promises to up the ante even higher with over 50 fashion and music shows on the program, and a legendary guest of honour: the French artist Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

He’s none other than the man behind Madonna’s teddy bear coat, and he’ll be in Montreal to host a variety of special events during the festival – including a lecture, an urban art event and a spectacular runway show/performance titled Fantômes that, we hear, will feature models and dancers animate sumptuous caftans to the beats of Parisian deejay Mr Nô and his veejay Florian. Of course, 60 other designers will rock the house during the festival’s four days, and there will be over 100 brands of clothing on view and yours to purchase in the open-air marketplace.

Every year the fest is a frenzy of fashion and fun, not least during the high-heel race – why not test your skills? The proceeds go to a great local charity: a refuge for victims of domestic violence called Le Chaînon. In homage to the Grace Kelly exhibition right next door at the McCord Museum, there’ll be a special runway show dedicated to Kelly lookalikes! And in a progressive move considering all the body issues in fashion, this year the fest is putting on a runway show dedicated to physical diversity, featuring models of all shapes and sizes. All in all, there’s sure to be something for everyone.

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